All Posts Tagged With: "blood samples"

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=21117995&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Results-Sensitivity and specificity of the in-clinic ELISA for detection of
heartworm antigen (99.2% and 100%, respectively), antibodies against B
burgdorferi (98.8% and 100%, respectively), and antibodies against E canis
(96.2% and 100%, respectively) were similar to results for a similar
commercial ELISA. In samples obtained from dogs in the northeast and upper
Midwest of the United States, sensitivity and specificity of the in-clinic
ELISA for antibodies against Anaplasma spp were 99.1% and 100%,
respectively, compared with results for an immunofluorescence assay. Samples
from 2 dogs experimentally infected with the NY18 strain of A
phagocytophilum were tested by use of the in-clinic ELISA, and antibodies
against A phagocytophilum were detected by 8 days after inoculation.
Antibodies against Anaplasma platys in experimentally infected dogs
cross-reacted with the A phagocytophilum analyte. Coinfections were
identified in several of the canine serum samples. 
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-
The commercially available in-clinic ELISA could be used by veterinarians to
screen dogs for heartworm infection and for exposure to tick-borne
pathogens.

A North Carolina State University researcher has discovered that bacteria transmitted by fleas–and potentially ticks–can be passed to human babies by the mother, causing chronic infections and raising the possibility of bacterially induced birth defects

Dr. Ed Breitschwerdt, professor of internal medicine in the Department of Clinical Sciences, is among the world’s leading experts on Bartonella, a bacteria that is maintained in nature by fleas, ticks and other biting insects, but which can be transmitted by infected cats and dogs as well. The most commonly known Bartonella-related illness is cat scratch disease, caused by B. henselae, a strain of Bartonella that can be carried in a cat’s blood for months to years. Cat scratch disease was thought to be a self-limiting, or “one-time” infection; however, Breitschwerdt’s previous work discovered cases of children and adults with chronic, blood-borne Bartonella infections–from strains of the bacteria that are most often transmitted to cats (B. henselae) and dogs (B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii) by fleas and other insects.

In his most recent case study, Breitschwerdt’s research group tested blood and tissue samples taken over a period of years from a mother, father and son who had suffered chronic illnesses for over a decade. Autopsy samples from their daughter–the son’s twin who died shortly after birth–contained DNA evidence of B. henselae and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffi infection, which was also found in the other members of the family.

Both parents had suffered recurring neurological symptoms including headaches and memory loss, as well as shortness of breath, muscle weakness and fatigue before the children were born. In addition, their 10-year-old son was chronically ill from birth and their daughter died due to a heart defect at nine days of age.